Will Irene's name be retired?

CBS 6 Meteorologist Carrie Rose contacted the NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center to inquire about whether or not "Irene" will become a retired name, considering the destruction and death toll caused by her. Here's the answer (via email) from a National Hurricane Center representative:

"Hello Carrie,

Thanks for your email.

The decision to retire a name is made by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Region IV Committee during their annual meeting, which will take place in the spring. The representative of a member nation on this committee can ask for a name to be retired. A vote is taken on that request. If accepted, the name is retired and a new name is voted upon to replace it.

Best regards,

Dennis Feltgen
Public Affairs Officer
Meteorologist
NOAA Communications & External Affairs"

Image: Hurricane Irene along the Delmarva coastline on Saturday, NOAA.

So this means we may not know if "Irene" becomes a retired name, like Katrina and Isabel, for example, until next Spring. Click here to see a list of the retired names. And click here to see what tropical cyclone names are currently in rotation.

Stay with CBS 6, we'll keep you ahead of the storm.
--Meteorologist Carrie Rose

Tropical Storm Katia forms Tuesday

As expected, the large tropical wave that moved off western Africa into the Eastern Atlantic earlier this week has strengthened enough to earn a name: Katia (pronounced KAH-tya). Here is the Tuesday Morning (Eastern Time) view of the Tropics, with Tropical Storm Katia in the bottom right in the red:

Our newest Tropical Storm of the 2011 season will also likely become our second hurricane (Irene was the first) within the next two days, and our second major hurricane by this weekend! Why will this happen? Because Katia will be moving over very warm, favorable ocean waters on which to feed (plenty of moisture as fuel), and also encounter minimal shear, which allows the storm to organize and intensify. Here's the expected track of Katia, as she moves west-northwest around the base of a large Atlantic High Pressure:

Forecast model data is consistent with this track, and they are all in pretty good agreement of the intensification forecast. Here's a look at that:

Stay with CBS6, we'll keep you ahead of the storm.
--Meteorologist Carrie Rose

Irene gone, Jose almost gone, and Katia soon to be...

Hurricane Irene fully transitioned to an extra-tropical cyclone late Sunday, and today it continues to weaken while its remnants move into northeast Canada. You can check the rest of www.wtvr.com for full Hurricane Irene coverage and recap, but here's a quick look at some of the worst of the storm.
Strongest Wind Gusts:

Highest Rainfall Totals:

As a result of Irene's heavy rainfall, we made up our year-to-date rainfall deficit to the exact amount! Check the statistics out:

As for the Great Dismal Swamp wildfire burning in Southeast Virginia, it's out! According to this morning's update on the Active Fire Mapping Program, the "Lateral West" fire is no longer considered an "incident." Rainfall totals in that part of the state were 10"+.

The mouth of the Chesapeake Bay also reported a surge of 4 feet, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel surge level matched the record level of Hurricane Isabel from 2003 (approximately 7.5 feet).

Activity in the tropics continues to ramp up, as is typical for this time of the tropical season (see the activity graph here):


If you blinked, you missed Tropical Storm Jose's development this weekend, and it's expected to weaken this afternoon well north of Bermuda. Here's the Monday morning update on Jose:

And Jose will likely be history by this afternoon as it moves into the cooler North Atlantic waters and encounters more wind shear:


A strong, large wave off the western coast of Africa moved south of the Cape Verde Islands Sunday into early Monday, and now we have Tropical Depression #12. This system is already strengthening and may be named Tropical Storm Katia later today, and may even become our second hurricane of the 2011 season by mid- to end-week. What may become Katia will not impact any landmasses through the end of this week.
Stay with CBS 6, we'll keep you ahead of the storm.
--Meteorologist Carrie Rose
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